This assignment has four sets of questions. Address the selected prompts in each set using multiple paragraphs and complete sentences with a minimum of 200 words EACH. Do not use unnecessary “filler text” – work to have concise, thoughtful explanations.
1. Chapter 16: What are the various kinds of prostitutes as described in the textbook? Which kind of prostitute has the most control and the least control over when and where she works? Which kind of prostitute is most vulnerable to and most shielded from the police? Which kind of prostitute is most likely to be assaulted by a client? What sort of factors determine the kind of prostitute a woman should become?
2. Chapter 17: What is the goal of sexual activity? Are there many goals? In American culture, what is the single goal for the physical act of sex? Is it orgasm? Whose orgasm? How is the belief that orgasm is the goal in sex transmitted to us culturally? In other words, how do we know this is the goal, even before a person has ever had sex?
Communication is critical to a satisfying sex life. Why is it so difficult to talk about sex with a partner, even when sexually active with him or her? Is it particularly difficult to talk about sexual problems with our partners? Which sexual problems are more or less challenging to bring up and discuss? Why?
3. Chapter 18: Why do STIs seem more dangerous for women or for men? What are the implications?
Are STIs stigmatized in a way that other diseases we pass to and from each other every day are not? Do people more readily share they have had the flu than they do that they have had chlamydia? How does it make you feel that chicken pox is caused by a herpes virus? What makes one form of herpes invoke a greater feeling of dread and disgust than the other?
4. Chapter 19: What are the main arguments for and against distributing condoms in school? Does the argument against distributing condoms in school appeal to a moral standard, and does the argument for distributing condoms in school appeal to a practical approach?
This tension between being moral and being practical is common in many debates about sexuality. How can this be applied in the case of distributing clean needles to drug users to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing sex education, and creating laws about people with HIV/AIDS?
1. Chapter 16: What are the various kinds of prostitutes as described in the textbook? Which kind of prostitute has the most control and the least control over when and where she works? Which kind of prostitute is most vulnerable to and most shielded from the police? Which kind of prostitute is most likely to be assaulted by a client? What sort of factors determine the kind of prostitute a woman should become?
2. Chapter 17: What is the goal of sexual activity? Are there many goals? In American culture, what is the single goal for the physical act of sex? Is it orgasm? Whose orgasm? How is the belief that orgasm is the goal in sex transmitted to us culturally? In other words, how do we know this is the goal, even before a person has ever had sex?
Communication is critical to a satisfying sex life. Why is it so difficult to talk about sex with a partner, even when sexually active with him or her? Is it particularly difficult to talk about sexual problems with our partners? Which sexual problems are more or less challenging to bring up and discuss? Why?
3. Chapter 18: Why do STIs seem more dangerous for women or for men? What are the implications?
Are STIs stigmatized in a way that other diseases we pass to and from each other every day are not? Do people more readily share they have had the flu than they do that they have had chlamydia? How does it make you feel that chicken pox is caused by a herpes virus? What makes one form of herpes invoke a greater feeling of dread and disgust than the other?
4. Chapter 19: What are the main arguments for and against distributing condoms in school? Does the argument against distributing condoms in school appeal to a moral standard, and does the argument for distributing condoms in school appeal to a practical approach?
This tension between being moral and being practical is common in many debates about sexuality. How can this be applied in the case of distributing clean needles to drug users to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, providing sex education, and creating laws about people with HIV/AIDS?
